Race Pro: SimBin's Exclusive 360 Racer & Its History

OXCGN Writes:

OXCGN will have Online Code for preview this week.

"We will be using this section to give you the FULL DETAILS on SimBin's Race Pro, we've had a test run of the game and it's shaping up very very nicely if I do say so myself. And being a racing-sim nut, it looks like it could give Forza a run for its money. So keep dropping back for all the car lists tracks, classes and details which ideally will be released this week from Atari."

"Sure, there's a Novice Arcady style apparently available for the smash-n-bash brigade, but the real stuff is there for the taking too. None of this mamby-pamby arcade racing, just solid, race line, nail-biting, slip-streaming racing pleasure at its best on harder difficulty."

[Godem]

hmm... after reading this i really wanna play a racing game!

[Immortal Kaim]

Same. I'm not typically 'into' racing games, but I really should give one a chance.

What would be the best racing series to get into? Anyone?

[InMyOpinion]

Forza Motorsport 2. It has something for everyone. Both customizers, simracers and arcade racers can get their satisfaction with Forza 2.

PGR is also great if you want a little more arcadey racing game. Not aradey as in Burnout but still not as simlike as Forza 2.

[panasonic23]

it u only have ps3 it gt5 but if u got a xbox360 forza 2, pgr 4

[TheColbertinator]

Thats not true at all.I know many PS3 owners who have GRID as well which is a great racer.Not to mention off road racing fans enjoy Motorstorm 2 and Pure as well.

[Speed-Racer]

Honestly that's the most small minded thought ever. That is why racing on the console is so blurred, because peeps like you stereotype GT5 with PS3 and Forza, PGR with the 360. Is there a problem if a new racer is in town. Compared to race pro, those games are very arcadish. I know fanbots will kill me for saying this but Race Pro is a serious simulator for a console and would be better than GT5 and Forza in terms of physics and handling.

[XboxOZ360]

I agree 110% mate, but there will be those console owners who will hate Race Pro, Forza and even GRID - even though it's more of an arcade racer than a sim. I'd place it in the semi-sim bracket myself as it can be rather grueling at times.

That said, many console racers want easy handling, speed, N2O (nitros), drags and Drifting . . .and have yet to grasps real sims. Real sims are not that worried about the track side visuals or the spectators waving their hands madly. Although it definitely adds a sense of realism to l=it, such as PGR3/4 and GRID etc.

But all major Race Sims focus heavily on the actual physics of a vehicle and the tracks cambers and such. Not the nitros burn that you get in Burnout etc . . SO many console racers find such games as this very tedious and dare I say, repetitive and boring.

Racing is repetitive by nature. Actually ALL games are, but that's another story.

So there will be those who love this game, and those who simply hate it . . sadly it will be more that hate it from the general gamer populous, but it will have a solid userbase much like Forza currently has. It still has a solid 2mil plus active users . . still.

[InMyOpinion]

Am I the only one that thought GRID was garbage? Arcade racer or not, the handling is wack and the story progression feels meaningless.

[darkmurder]

Seems like a really hard game, more so than Forza so I may pick it up, been hanging for another true sim.

[XboxOZ360]

Depends on the style of racer you like.

For more arcade style where you don't give a hoit if you damage or hit walls at 200 and bounce of unscathed, then the PGR series and the other Burnout rubbish is fine. PGR 3 is the better or the two This-Gen games on the 360.

Seeing GT5 is not here yet, prob late in December if it arrives on time, then that will be a while off yet. But that would be the best bet for your PS3. GT5 Prolouge is not a full sim per-se', but a solid game never the less.

For real racing sims per-se' on a console, then Forza 2 would be your first choice, and seeing that Race Pro is release late this month in the US and in Europe and Australia/NZ on the 19th Feb, then Race Pro would be the next obvious choice.

Having played Race Pro (beta version) I can say it will have the proper racing nuts tightly screwed and happy. For those looking for a bash around the arcade, then don't bother, you'll only be frustrated. Unless you play it on novice or the like.

You can NOT have a race-sim and an arcade game mixed together and expect perfect gameplay and mechanics. The only thing that comes close is GRID by Codemasters, which is possibly THE best semi-sim/Arcade racer out there bar none. Highly underrated and unexplored.

Definitely takes some getting used to as it can be very unforgiving to the novice, and when you crash, well . .. . . you crash, period. No bouncing off walls and continuing on undamaged. It's very persistent around that aspect. Has a solid replay system and visuals are excellent and basically awesome seems to come to mind a lot.

Forza and Race Pro are made by ppl who specialise in "RACING GAMES, not arcade games. Race Pro comes from a history of 7 previous racing titles on the PC, made by the same ppl, and produced by the same team/s. Yes, you will have to follow race lines, No, there will be no drag racing, hill climbs, or Tuners and Drifting, there's no HANDBRAKE in Race Pro, You do not need it in real racing (aside from drifting).

[TheColbertinator]

Race Pro sounds good but the graphics...oh my...I was amazed at how Forza 2 looked better than it.Race Pro will have to do something new to get people away from Turismo,GRID,and Forza

[XboxOZ360]

After having played it mate, it's not too bad actually, and when you're in-car, it looks great. I was playing it just last night actually, switching back and forth between Forza 2 and Race Pro to get a feel for them both. Having spent almost 200-300 hours in Forza 2 - check my Flick=r pages out on the site in the Forza pages . . .

The thing is, racing sims have never and never do "look' great compared to games made for photorealistic looks and cut down on the physics. It's all about the racing, not the visuals, having said that, it does look good, and I've only seen beta code with the usual bugs etc.

Which is usually a long way from finished product.

I thought the very same things when I first saw it, and had the early code delivered last year, yuk . . then this new code arrived last week, and a new lot arrives from UK later this week which will be the later build ready for shipping (NTSC open code = plays of PAL units).

They had fixed heaps of the earlier flaws and misgivings, and this one looks a lot sharper and more detailed now. Those pics we see here are from pre-alpha and early code. Some, right down the bottom of thethumb nails are off recent builds and you'll see some actual in-car screens from the latest build as well, and they look a lot different.

That;s the problem with many ppl (no offense to you, just saying about others) is that they see pre-alpha screens, or early code and from that point on, they condemn the game/s and never give them the slightest leyway or a second glance.

Bagging them on forums and blogs, without even checking current builds or recent screnes etc. Shame really, as it does the whole industry a huge disservice actually.

[Why dis]

Nonesense check your eyes.

Sims and arcade racers have different goals(physics, damage etc)

[PixlSheX]

Well.. GT5 is a sim and it'll have damage. What's that? I know the answer.

The Real Driving Simulator.

[Why dis]

If you say so.

[Speed-Racer]

@PixlSheX - Dont continue to fool yourself with a game that does not excel in the physics department

[WIIIS1]

Given that GT5 Prologue is lagging way behind Forza 2 as a simulator, there's little reason to believe that GT5 will not be garbage next to Race Pro/ Forza 3 as a simulator.

[pwnsause]

"@ Pixel
Given that GT5 Prologue is lagging way behind Forza 2 as a simulator, there's little reason to believe that GT5 will not be garbage next to Race Pro/ Forza 3 as a simulator."

How do you know? do you read your statements before you post them? did you know what you just said? wow.....

[Why dis]

Have to try this out.

Getting Ferrari Project That games seems to mix the best of any racer's visuals with Forza-like physics.

I agree with #4.1

2007 build:

http://www.playfuls.com/scr...

http://www.playfuls.com/scr...

http://www.playfuls.com/scr...

http://www.playfuls.com/scr...

2008 Build:

http://www.autogaming.net/c...

http://www.autogaming.net/c...

360 has plenty of racers this year with Forza 3 possibly releasing in 2009.

http://www.autogaming.net/x...

[XboxOZ360]

Forza 3 is a "definite release' in 2009, we have details on it real soon, and will be doing some local promotions with MS in Australia for Forza 3, so trust us on that one. They are in the works already. Expect it around the 3rd qtr of 2009 after some extensive promotions like last time.

Other than that, that's really all we can say on the matter, it is on the way and not that long off and it will arrive before GT5 which is proposed to arrive late December if all goes to plan . . .
There's also a new Colin McRae DiRT 2 on its way this year from Codies, and a possible announcement about GRID at some stage, doubtful for this year, but possibly for early next. But who knows, they have been working on it from before GRID shipped last year, so who knows.

[VMAN_01]

I'll just stick with Gran Turisimo I have grown up with the game. Can't wait for GT5 with the Top Gear test track, that coupled with a Logitech G25 = RACING HEAVEN!

[Perjoss]

looks like i wont be using my ps3 for racers for a long time, the AI in GT prologue is super boring and your rivals in the motorstorm games are there just to look pretty thanks to the ridiculous rubber banding. PGR4 for sheer fun and when I feel like a sim type race game forza2 is still king.

[XboxOZ360]

We've just update the site and added a second page which you can access from the main article here, just slip down to just above the first video and grab the link to OXCGN's Race Pro Microsite ( http://oxcgn.com/xboxoz360-... Atari will be feeding us information to keep it up to date as well.

Seeing that Madcatz have teamed the Saitek staff up with their own staff last year after they bought them out, it seems logical that there would be a new wheel in the making somewhere.

They just announced the brand new Aviator series for the consoles and a new Cyborg X for the PC which has full MS/Sony support and is one of the first major 3rd party peripherals that's worth the money - finally.

So it's a reasonable assumption to think that they could well be working on a half decent wheel/pedal/gear setup similar to the ones they already have for the PC such as the new Porsche' set up.

If that is the case, assumption big time here, it would be a welcomed addition for racing nuts everywhere.

Plus we've not seen any "new" MS Steering Wheels appearing as replacement stock in stores. I know a few managers, and stock is slowly disappearing - so one would ask - WHY?

Perhaps to herald in a new 3rd party wheel stet up and not waste funds on peripherals that do not sell as much as they thought they would . . ?!

Some room for thought perhaps ???

Anyhow, do check out the new page and Bookmark it, we've also added around 55 images today as well, and will have some more from Atari soon, and will be grabbing some off our debug unit once we get the okay from Atari to publish same. We'd love to show you lots of stuff we have, but we believe it's more important to honour our NDA's than bring tit-bits to you and pay the price later on.

[Sarcasm]

"tit-bits"

lol... sorry... had to point it out...

[ar]

If this game is anything like Simbins earlier pc-racers this will be a serious simulator. There pc-racers are probably the most realistic race games you can find.

[XboxOZ360]

There's a few PC centric sims coming to the consoles now . . . IL-2 Sturmovick: Birds of Prey ( http://oxcgn.com/xboxoz360-... is heading our way this year on console from a huge flight-sim developer . . .

Thing is, console gamers (generally speaking) seem to not have the patience or whatever to go at a sim for long periods. They require dedication and persistance to beat the game and the times set by others.

Forza 2's times are still being broken every day almost 2 yrs after it launched, and those times are only being broken by thousands of a second at times. That's dedication.

Forza 3 and Race Pro etc even GRID do not need 900 plus cars, and representatives from every make, model and class of vehicle on the globe.

Just those that regularly make bloody good race cars known around the world. Sure, you can "race" anything really, and turn anything into a nightmare on the street. Shivers, I had a 1600 Datsun Ute with a 327 Chev, Powerglide 400 and a Detroit Locker, 12" rims up back and 4" rims up front. BUt it wasn't classed a race car, but it was a great street car.

The list on our Forza 3 Wish List ( http://oxcgn.com/2007/10/20... just grows and grows with Trucks and some cars I've never even heard of from people saying Forza 3 with be crap if it doesn't have such-n-such a car or only 400 cars etc.

BS . . . Grid, Race Pro, Forza2 etc did not need a huge amount of cars, and even Forza 2 at 350 max was way too many actually.

at least 1/3 of those I simply do not use, and I own every car in Forza 2, some more than once. So what if GT6=5 will have 900 cars, big bloody deal . .there's no way in gods green earth anyone could 'seriously' race every one of those cars. So what is the point of having them.

Grab a handful and become experts at those cars, not minions to all of them.

[ph3lid]

GT5:P looks like a hospital corridor compared to the colorful GRID.

[XboxOZ360]

The only thing I dislike about GRID is, that you can not 'save' replays, and that there is no photo feature available in the game.

Which in this day and age seems almost silly to the extreme. I do hope that Race Pro allows pics, it does have Replay Saves which is great, but I haven't noticed any Picture feature yet.

I love GRID, and it can get tiring at times when trying to get off the 'grid' (no pun intended) when you have a full field and it ends up full of smoke from tyres . . .Then there's a quick turn, and be fore you know it, some AI has crashed and you're right in the middle of it . .Restart .. restart . . restart . .

But it's still fun nevertheless.

[JokesOnYou]

Hey thanks for all the info, Race Pro looks sah-wheet! I didn't like Grid much so there hasn't been anything lately for me to put more miles on my 360 wireless racing wheel, so hopefully if Race Pro can hold a candle to Forza2 in the physics dept then I'm in.

JOY

[Revvin]

Forza 2 and GT5P fit into a slightly different genre than RACE Pro. As someone who's played both games extensively I'd give the edge to GT5P out of the two but as I now only have a PS3 I have to admit to being very envious of seeing RACE Pro on the 360 and it may just prompt me to buy a 360 to compliment my PS3.

I've played all of Simbins games since they were just a team of amateur mod makers making their GTR mod for EA's F1 series. I remember people hunting for copies of EA's sims just so they could play the mod. I went on and bought GTR, GT Legends, GTR2, RACE, RACE 07 and GTR Evolution. While iRacing may be the top dog for PC sims Simbin enter the console scene with no real direct competition for a true racing simulator. Forza 2 and GT5P are great games and I've enjoyed them immensely but RACE Pro feels more familiar to me as a long time PC racing sim enthusiast from the original Indy 500 from Papyrus and Geoff Crammonds Grand Prix (not to mention a few titles before that on the ZX Spectrum and Commodore Amiga).

The visuals look stimulating enough to suspend belief that I am in a proper racing machine, designed and engineered to propel me around the track as fast as possible. This is not some showroom sports model or supercar this is a thoroughbred racing machine with all the grunt and noise and cars festooned with sponsors logo's.

I hope this title sells well for the Simbin guys and for those of us who yearn for a realistic racing sim to get our teeth into on the console format. With companies like Simbin and 1C:Maddox who are renowned for their driving and flight simulations dipping their toes in the water with titles like RACE Pro and IL-2: Birds of Prey it could temp a lot more users to the various formats and broaden the choice for all.

[XboxOZ360]

Re:

I hope this title sells well for the Simbin guys and for those of us who yearn for a realistic racing sim to get our teeth into on the console format. With companies like Simbin and 1C:Maddox who are renowned for their driving and flight simulations dipping their toes in the water with titles like RACE Pro and IL-2: Birds of Prey it could temp a lot more users to the various formats and broaden the choice for all.

................

I also hope it sells well, thing is, console gamers are a fickled bunch. very pedantic about their games, and have a shorter attention span for new titles - for some odd reason. Especially around racing games. Unless you're dedicated enthusiast, even Forza comes off as TOO race orientated for many, and diss it for being this or that. Poor handling, lousy visuals, bad AI ("they pass you and try and get in t=front of you: etc etc).

SO the game gets a % of the followers, and those are the dedicated ones who simply love good racing. It seems that unless the game is "accessible" - means dumbed down considerably, many console gamers don't want a bar of it, be that a sim, or even stealth games etc. If it has too much "thinking required" style game play, then it's dissed and has a hard time on the net getting support.

I hope for SimBin's sake that 360 owners take the game up like it should be, but I have this bad feeling that once many play it, it will be thrown back to the shops and the forums will light upp claiming that the game is terrible, that the developers don't know what they are doing, and where's the bloody nitros etc.

I do honestly hope I'm proven wrong, but I had the same ill feeling about Mirror's Edge, and look what happened to it and games like it that are 'different' . . .

Even GRID copped a flogging from gamers claiming it was too hard, unrealistic, terrible handling, only had a few cars and several tracks, and hell, no customization, where's the wheel arch flairs and such . . . etc etc etc . . it didn't last long in the stores really.

Thing is, it's a bloody great game and very challenging at times, so is racing in Real Life. So gamers, please don't let yet another new console developer run back to the PC arena, we need games like this so the consoles new technology can be pushed and prodded to extract more great games.

Otherwise you'll end up with simple sequel after sequel,. Funny thing is though, they sell like hot cakes on consoles, yet everyone complains they don't want more sequels . . fickled - yes!?

[Revvin]

Review sites must also catch some flack. I'm sure a lot of sites will mark down games like RACE Pro and IL-2:Birds of Prey just because they raise the difficulty bar, because they do not offer immediate rewards. For the sake of generating hits they will make the ill-founded comparison's to Forza, Gran Turismo etc. I hope that I'm right and that the average age of console owners has risen sufficiently that RACE Pro will be a success. Around the various racing and flight sim sites I frequent its good to see so many PC users now buying 360's and PS3's to supplement their PC sim hobby. Many of these sites would have refused to entertain a console section to their site/forum and yet now many do have such a section.

That said in my opinion your assessment of GRID is way off, its a poor arcade racer at best. The flack it got over its handling was spot on, cars don't pivot on a centre point and certainly don't brake like they have drag chutes deployed. Don't take that as me being some sort of sim snob because I loved the PGR series ,I think the PS3 is missing a racing game of that type.

[gaminoz]

I still like arcady racers, but then I generally suck at them...I just wish fun racing games like Pure had split screen multi!